Old beliefs die hard

In Taiwan, after World War II ended, ancient beliefs and traditions were still upheld. Many young people today, with modern ideas and a Western education, would have found the people's way of thinking difficult to understand.

About four decades ago, when the husband of a married couple died of illness not long after the wedding, the wife had a miserable life. The husband's family regarded the young widow as a woman who brought misfortune to the family.

In a remote village in the most southern part of Taiwan, I knew of such a widow, an intelligent woman who played the piano and worked as a high school teacher. Yet she was ostracized by her husband's family. She lived alone in a former godown, which was hurriedly transformed into a dwelling place. I sympathized with her in her grief, as there was nothing for her to look forward to but a lonely life and bleak future. Perhaps we would think that in this case, the husband's family was devoid of compassion, but the belief at that time was that such a woman could again lose her husband if she remarried. Is such ancient belief foolish or absurd?

Another old tradition concerns a belief among the ethnic Chinese that young couples with the same surname (family name) should not marry, because of the possibility their forefathers might belong to one family.

I know of a couple with the same surname. Naturally the boy's and the girl's families were against their marriage for the same reason. But the young couple would not listen to their parents, and married secretly. Only one year after their marriage the husband died a tragic death while driving his car, apparently of a heart attack.

A. DJUANA

Jakarta